Tech Rehearsals

Yesterday and today are the days we will be doing tech rehearsals for the upcoming production of Inspecting Carol.

Since we share the theatre with another theatre company, and other activities occasionally go on here, sometimes the only time we get to use the software and hardware that runs sound and lights is when we’re in rehearsal. This was the case this week, as I got my first try at programming the sound computer to play the music and sound effects for the show.

Cast of Inspecting Carol rehearses a scene as I a read manual on the theatre's audio software - Nov. 20, 2011

Image credit: All images Craig Orsinger/Burien Little Theatre

One of the fun things about this show is that it is about a small theatre. Not only are the situations in the play things that we have seen in past productions, even if only in our nightmares, but we have finally gotten some use out of the old equipment that we’re no longer using. The tech booth set is decorated with it:

A view of Inspecting Carol's "tech crew" sitting in the booth set, as seen from the real tech booth - Nov. 20, 2011

This works out pretty well, since the show is set in the 1990s. The equipment is about right for that time. We even have a dual cassette deck! All we need now is a couple of dusty old hair band cassettes that have been sitting under the seat of an old Camaro since the Clinton Administration, and we’re all set.

So, while MJ and Bart, the characters who are the stage manager and technician of Inspecting Carol’s theatre company, try to figure out how to put on A Christmas Carol despite all the adversity they face, we in the real tech crew have to work out our own issues so we can put on the show. Meanwhile, the cast soldiers on:

After Zorah, MJ, and Bart finish their struggles for the night, their real counterparts Cyndi Baumgardner (stage manager), Maggie Larrick (director), and Amanda Winters (costume designer) discuss technical and staging issues that still need to be worked out. Much like Inspecting Carol’s benighted company, we’ve had problems filling technical and cast positions for this show. We were very fortunate that Amanda, Steve Cooper, and several members of the cast have stepped in so enthusiastically.

From left, staqe manager Cyndi Baumgardner, director Maggie Larrick, and costume designer Amanda Winters discuss technical and staging issues to be worked out after the first tech rehearsal - Nov. 21, 2011

Sometimes, art imitates art.

About craig

I've been involved in BLT productions in one way or another since 1981. Over the years, I've done just about every job here except directing and costume design. These days, I mostly function as the theatre handyman.